My time on the Enterprise
by Nascar24lover
Summary: Natalie is an Engineer working on a starbase near Romulan space. When they attack, she is charged with carrying a secret back to Command. That is if she can survive the Romulans and a certain charming captain. Better than summary sounds.
1. Chapter 1: the Beginning

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter One: The Beginning

Disclaimer: Don't own Star Trek, but really wished I did.

Natalie Sterling wiped off some of the grease on her hands onto her coveralls she was wearing. She then pulled her long, mid-back length straight black hair back into the bun it had fallen out of. She worked on Starbase 24, at the edge of Romulan space. Things had been getting tense since Vulcan was destroyed six months ago. Her dark brown eyes looked over the transporter coils that she was working on. The transporters had gone down about two days ago and she had almost gotten to the root of the problem. "Lt. Commander Sterling, please report to main engineering." A voice said over the intercom. Natalie sighed, now what? She loved being an engineer, but the base was staring to fall apart. She started wishing again that she got the position on the Starship she actually wanted to work on rather than a Starbase. She was twenty four years and stuck in a old and falling apart base, she really wanted to get out of here and explore the stars. She walked to the nearest turbolift and made her way to engineering. When she arrived she saw the head of engineering waiting for her. He was thirty four years old, slightly balding, brown hair, grey eyes. "Yes, sir." She said. "I know you're almost finished with the transporter but I need my best person on the new problem we have." He told her. She wanted to roll her eyes at the man. He only said that when it was the worst job on the planet. He loved to put her on the hard projects because she could fix anything. "What is the problem, sir?" Natalie asked. "Communications are down; we need to fix it fast." He ordered. "Especially since things are blowing up with the Romulans." She nodded. "Yes, sir, I'll get right on that." She said. "But if I might be allowed to ask, is there anyone going to work on the transporters. If things really do go south we probably need them in working order."

"I'll have Lieutenant Myers working on it." He replied. Natalie nodded and walked up to the operations center. She walked over to the communications station and begun to fix it. She had been working on it for nearly an hour, when she found the problem. It was a fried chip; she looked through the bag she had picked up before she left engineering. She just put in the new one and the console lit up when three Romulan ships appeared in front of them. "Shields up!" Captain Jeremy Spitcher ordered. "They're firing on us!" Ensign Kayhill said. "Fire phasers and send out a distress call!" The Captain ordered. They sent one out but the fight wasn't long, they only had phasers to the Romulans phaser banks and photon torpedoes. The shields were down and the Romulans had begun to beam onboard. The Captain turned to Natalie, who was the only engineer in the room. "Can you lock out the computer?" He asked. "Yes, sir." She relied. "Do it." He ordered. She walked over to the engineering console and begun to enter stuff at a rapid pace. About twenty minutes later she had successfully locked out the computer. The Captain opened the door to the Jefferies tubes. "Go to the shuttle bay, escape in the shuttles." He ordered.

They all looked at each other for a second; the shuttles would be easy to pick off. "Lt. Commander Sterling, you know the tubes like the back of your hand." The Captain said. "Lead them to safety." He then handed her a data chip on a chain. "Take this to Starfleet Command; only give it to Starfleet Command. It contains something they need if a war comes with the Romulans." Natalie took the item and put it around her neck and under the collar of her coveralls. She then turned and headed into the tubes. Everyone in the operations center made it into the tubes. There was only the Captain and the first officer left in the room. The Romulans had made it to the door they had locked and had begun to knock it down. The two men looked at each other, they knew that they had to give the people in the Jefferies tubes time to get away. Captain Spitcher shut the door to the tubes and turned to the door. The Romulans knocked down the door and pointed their guns at the only two people in the room. "Hello, gentlemen." The Captain said. Meanwhile, while that was happening, Natalie was leading the group through the many twists and turns. They met up with about a group of twenty who also thought of using the tubes. They finally made it to the door; Natalie opened it and got out.

She glanced around the room and saw no one. She motioned to the rest of the group to follow her. About half of the group made it to the shuttles when the Romulans waiting to spring the trap started shooting. Everyone dived everywhere. Some of the group ran into the first shuttle and left the bay, but were shot down by one of the Romulan ships. Natalie and five others headed back to the Jefferies tube door. About ten more hadn't even left the tube yet. Natalie was the last to get in. She turned and saw that everyone else was dead and shut the door quickly. Natalie led them to a hub of sorts in the tubes. She then looked at the other people who were with her. "We need a plan." She said. "But first we need to get to Engineering to shut off the internal sensors. That way they don't know where we are." She bit her lip. "We also need to get to the weapons locker; we have no way to defend ourselves right now." An Ensign told her. "You're right. Okay I will head to Engineering." She began. "I can shut it down quickly and the less people with me the better it will be. They will probably have at least ten to twenty in there. Four of you will go to the weapons locker and get as many weapons as you can. The rest of you stay in the tubes and do not attract attention." Natalie looked at all the faces looking back at her. If everyone else was dead on the base and her and the people with her was all that was left. She was now the highest ranking officer and she needed to lead them. "What about sending another distress call out?" Asked Lieutenant Emily Constrian, the communications officer on duty at the time. "All we have to do is go to auxiliary control and we could send a message out." Emily continued. "Okay, you and two others, go with the group to the weapons locker, once armed go to auxiliary control and try to get another message out and try to get somebody to respond." She said. "Now, you all have tasks, let's get them done quietly." She turned and headed down the tube to main engineering and prayed to god that somehow, someway, somebody was coming to rescue them.

Okay so this is my first Star Trek Fanfiction, I hope you like it. Please review and give me ideas on how to continue it. I have a main story line I think I'm going to follow but sometimes the best ideas in my stories come from suggestions from the readers.


	2. Chapter 2: hope

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter Two: Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek, just my own little character.

Natalie had made it to the door to engineering. She took a deep breath and opened the door slowly and quietly. She slipped out of the tube and shut the door behind her. A quick glance around the room and she counted about seven Romulans that she could see. Natalie ran over to be behind a console. She found a big wench that someone had laid down earlier and she thought that it would make a great weapon for now. Looking to find the console she needed and saw that two Romulans guarded it. Natalie swore under her breath and made a plan, hopefully that wouldn't attract attention. She got on her knees and looked over the edge of the console she was behind. She pushed a few buttons and made an alarm sound off to the other side of engineering than she planned to go. When the two Romulans ran from their post she waited a few seconds and then ran to the console. She quickly hit the buttons and glanced around nervously. She just finished her task when the Romulans came back. She didn't have time to run back to cover and they saw her. They shot their weapons at her but just grazed her by inches. It burned as the shots passed but she quickly turned and ran down the main hallway. Natalie wasn't going to go back in the tubes just in case they followed her to the rest of the group. She turned down a blind curve and smack dab into a huge Romulan.

The other group had gotten the weapons and was now making their way to the auxiliary control. They slipped out of the tube door and fired on the two Romulans in the room. One of the officers looked the only entryway into here as Ensign Constrian pushed the buttons to get the communications over to her control. She successfully did it and sent out the distress call. "To any Federation ships in the area, this is Starbase 24. We are under attack from the Romulans. So far we only know of a handful of us that are survivors but we can't last long. I repeat, any Federation ships in the area, this is Starbase 24. We are under attack from the Romulans." Banging on the door started, startling everyone in the room. The Romulans broke into the room but there was nobody there. They had escaped into the tubes again, but not before the ensign grabbed a communicator and made it the only thing that could communicate out or receive.

Little did they know that the first transmission hadn't even got out. This one did however. The only closest ship in range was the USS Enterprise. Lt. Uhura was actually listening to the overlapping chatter from two ships near them when she picked it up. "Sir, I have an emergency message from Starbase 24, audio only." She said. Captain Kirk frowned. "Put it on speaker." He said. "To any Federation ships in the area, this is Starbase 24. We are under attack from the Romulans. So far we only know of a handful of us that are survivors but we can't last long. I repeat, any Federation ships in the area, this is Starbase 24. We are under attack from the Romulans." The transmission was then hastily cut off. "Set in a course for the base, maximum warp." Kirk ordered. "Aye, sir." Sulu replied. "We will arrive there in twenty minutes." Kirk sighed. "I hope we can still rescue them then." He said. "Try and contact them, tell them were coming."

Natalie meanwhile had swung her wrench at the head of the Romulan. It hit hard, but didn't make him go down like she hoped it would. He backhanded her and she hit the wall behind her. Natalie slowly stood up and then threw the wrench as hard as she could at him. It hit right at his throat and he actually went backwards, dropping his phaser in the process. She grabbed it and fired three shots at him. Then not even checking to see if he was dead, she ran to the nearest tube entrance she knew. She opened it quickly and flew in the tube, shutting it behind her. Natalie then felt the back of her head, she had at least a bump on the head and then she felt the blood on the side of her face. She must have hit something and cut it open. She made her way to the meeting place and saw that the others were already there. "Everyone armed?" She asked. They all nodded. "And the message?" She then asked. "Sent out, I don't know if any heard it or not." The Ensign replied and then held up the communicator device. "I transferred all incoming and outgoing communications to this, no one else can use the communications." Natalie sat down. "Well, now we wait." She said.

No sooner had those words left her mouth when the communicator went off. The Ensign quickly handed her the device. "USS Enterprise to Starbase 24." She heard. Natalie flipped it open and responded. "This is Starbase 24 and it is so good to hear your voice." She said. "We are coming as fast as we can, we will reach your destination in twenty minutes." Uhura told her. "Three ships attacked us, when I was disabling the internal sensors I saw that all but one is gone." Natalie stated. "Understood." Uhura said. They terminated the transmission and everyone hoped they were in time.


	3. Chapter 3: rescued

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter Three: Rescued

Twenty minutes seems like an eternity to people waiting for a rescue. Unknown to them the Romulans had picked up on the transmissions. They had triangulated their position and were closing in. They did have lookouts posted on the four entrances into the hub they were sitting in. "The Romulans are in the tubes!" A shout came from the south end. They tried to go to the north, but the Romulans were also coming in that way. Also the east and west tunnels. But little did the Romulans know that there was also a path downward. Natalie opened the door and the group started going through. The four lookouts opened fire and took down two Romulans each before they were each killed. Natalie was the last one through again, the only other engineer in the group was leading the way. They hit another hub and came out of the tubes on the level below. On this level were shields and transporters. Natalie looked at the watch on her arm, in two minutes the twenty minutes were up, she hoped that they were on time.

On the Enterprise, they were just about to go out of warp. "Shields up, ready photon torpedoes." Kirk ordered. "Aye sir." Chekov replied. "Dropping out of warp in 3, 2, 1." Sulu said. The ship dropped out of warp and instantly the lone Romulan ship picked them up on sensors and starting firing. The Enterprise fired back, while that was going on they scanned the base for survivors. "Unfortunately since they took down internal sensors we can't pick their signals and beam them up directly, also they have their shields up." Scotty said. "And communications are now being blocked, my guess is that the Romulans figured out where they were and don't want them to get away." Uhura added. Kirk bit his lip and looked at the screen. "Is there any way to beam aboard the station itself?" He asked. "Nay Captain, with the shields up you would either need to bring a shuttle over and hope the docking bay is open." Scotty replied. "Or beam aboard the Romulan vessel somehow and find a way to beam to the station using their transporters." Jim looked Spock. "Which way has a better chance of succeeding?" He asked. Spock thought for a moment. "I think Captain, that either way is fraught with danger." He replied. "If we use the shuttle idea, the shields that are on it will be useless against their weapons. If we teleport over to the Romulan ship we would have little chance of making it to a transporter or even getting off ourselves."

Kirk thought a moment. "Spock, you will come with me, we will use the shuttle idea." He said. "It has at least has a chance of succeeding." They both left the bridge and quickly walked to the nearest shuttle bay. Kirk jumped into the pilot's seat and began flipping switched to power up the ship. Spock sat in the copilot's seat. The bay doors then opened and Kirk piloted the shuttle out from Enterprise. He then made the turn to the Starbase. In seconds they were out of the protection of the Enterprise and on their own. The Romulan ship saw them, even though the Enterprise was trying to keep them focused on them. Kirk had to make some fast maneuvers to avoid being hit. They arrived at the bay and thankfully its doors were open. He landed it in an open space, then he and Spock got out. Kirk saw the bodies that were strewn about the room. He hoped that this wasn't a futile effort on his part. What they didn't know was that the Romulans were waiting for someone to try and rescue the survivors. They were quickly surrounded and captured. This was a wonderful idea, Kirk thought to himself. The Romulans lead them to the operations center.

Natalie and her group were trying to stay ahead of the Romulans. Her hair had fallen out of its bun and was bugging the heck out of her falling in front of her eyes at times, but she wasn't going to do anything about it now. Natalie then heard one of the communicators the Romulans chasing them went off. The communications officer came up to her. "Ma'am, they have captured the rescue team that the Enterprise sent out." She said. Natalie rolled her eyes heavenward, of all the things to go wrong. "Is there anything else?" She asked as they ran. "They are taking them to the operations center. They have also increased the shields on the base itself and blocked all outgoing and incoming communications." The Ensign told her. "They must have come in on a shuttle then." Natalie said. "Okay, first let's kill the ones following us." She, Ensign Constrain and a Lieutenant turned and opened fire on the Romulans chasing them. They managed to kill them and could take a breather since there was no one else chasing them at the moment. "Okay, we are going to split up, half will go to the shuttle bay and take control of it." She said. "The other half will come with me and free the people they captured. If all goes well, we will meet in the shuttle bay." Natalie threw a communicator to the leader of the other group. "Internal communications are still working it looks like. If it goes south, I will order you to take the shuttle and get to Enterprise. I will take my group and come down here and shut down the shields and then to our transporters. Hopefully they are working; we will then beam onto the Enterprise."

"Does everyone understand their orders?" She asked. "Why don't we take out the shields now?" A helmsman asked. "Because they might just target the base and try to blow it up so no one makes it off." Natalie replied. "I don't think they will bat an eye if they lose some of theirs to the reason they thought up to attack us over." They then broke apart. Natalie and her group made their way to the tubes; it was the only way to get there the fastest. The Romulans wouldn't think that they would head to the operations center that way. They made it to the door and opened it slightly. Everyone had their back to them. The bodies of the first officer and the captain lay near the opening of the tube. Natalie and the five with her were careful to step around them. They then took positions around the Romulans circled around the people they captured. Natalie counted three seconds them stood and opened fire on the Romulans.

Kirk and Spock saw the people out of the corners of their eyes and ducked just as the firing started. They made their way to the edge of the circle the people made. Natalie could tell that they were fighting a losing battle; they had killed about five of the eleven Romulans in the room, but lost two of their own. She looked and saw that two of the Romulans had went over to one of their only escape routes, the door to the tube. She looked over to the door to the hall. It was open and looked like no one was in there. "Fall back to the hall!" She shouted. She, Kirk, Spock the other three of the group ran for the door. They all made it thankfully. Natalie then led them to another tube entrance. She opened the door. "Get in!" She ordered. Spock went in first, followed by the other three. Kirk, who had taken a Romulan blaster away from one of the dead, was pointing the weapon down the hall. Natalie had hers pointed the other way. "Ladies first." Kirk said. She looked at him, rolled her eyes and got in. This was no time to argue. Kirk then got in and shut the door behind them. Natalie whipped out her communicator. "You can't contact the ship, communications are blocked." Kirk said. "Didn't say I was contacting the ship, did I?" She replied. "Sterling to Lieutenant Cranbury." She said. The reply came quick. "Lt. Cranbury here." The voice said over the comm. "Have you made it to the shuttle?" She asked. "Yes, but we are under fire." He replied. Natalie bit her lip. "Take off, get to the Enterprise we'll go with plan b." She said then shut the communicator.

"Follow me." She said and led them to a hub then down to the level with the shields and transporters. They got out of the tube pointing their weapons down the hall. "Okay, you five go to the transporters, I'll get the shields shut down and meet you there." She told them. "Aye, sir." The three replied and went in that direction. Spock followed them but Kirk hadn't moved an inch. "I'm coming with you." He said. She sighed. "Look, there will probably be five to ten Romulans guarding where I'm going." She told him. "The least amount of people going on this suicide mission the better." Kirk shook his head. "With two of us the odds are better." He pointed out. Natalie turned and began to run down the hall to the shield array, Kirk matching her pace. "I don't have time to argue with you, but you probably should have gone with them." She told him. He smirked at her as they run. "Probably, but I'm known for making rash decisions like that." He replied. They made it to the shield array control room. Natalie was right there were five Romulans in the room. "Let's just shoot the console and run for it." Kirk commented. Natalie nodded. "We'll only have one shot." She added. They were on either side of the doorway; they turned to the open door as one and fired.

They hit the console and succeeded in disabling the shields. The Romulans tuned and started firing at them. They both turned and ran for it. As they ran the Romulans continued to fire at them, one got in a lucky shot and hit Kirk in the leg. He went down and Natalie stopped and turned to help him. She bent down to where he was lying and was still shooting the Romulans following them. "Can you walk?" She asked. He tried to get up, but where the leg was hit, it couldn't take any weight. "No." He told her. He heard her swear under her breath. Kirk turned and began to fire from his seated position. "I told you that you should have gone with the other group." She told him. "Hand me your communicator." He ordered. Natalie rolled her eyes. "It's in my lower pocket next to you, but I don't see how it's going to help." She told him. "Unless we are extremely lucky and somehow the interference causing the communications blackout was controlled by that console." Kirk flipped it open. "Kirk to Enterprise." He said. Natalie had now taken down two Romulans and he had taken down another one. "Enterprise here." Came the reply finally. "Can you lock on to us now?" He asked. "Just the communicator." Scotty replied. "Spock and three others are at the transporter in the base, have they beamed over yet?" Kirk asked. "Aye, just now." Scotty replied. Kirk quickly grabbed Natalie around her waist and pulled her to him. They both were still shooting at the Romulans. "Beam us up, Scotty." He ordered. The light started to envelope them, but one last shot made it through, making contact with one of them before they were beamed aboard the ship. After they were successfully beamed aboard the Enterprise turned and jumped into warp.

Ohh, who gets hurt from the last shot? Just how bad were they hurt? Give me a review and tell me who should get the shot and how bad. The one with the best idea is the one I will use. Decisions, decisions, decisions. I have an idea which one, but if you can sway me I will change my mind.


	4. Chapter 4: welcome to the sick bay

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter four: Welcome to the sick bay

Natalie didn't feel the shot hit her until she rematerialized on the Enterprise. McCoy and his team were waiting there. He ran to the pad as soon as they appeared. Natalie touched her side where she was hit. Thankfully it hit her in the side; it was still painful but not lethal. So minutes later they arrived in sick bay. McCoy patched them up and put them in adjoining beds. There was silence between them for a few minutes. Kirk looked over at her. "See, its better that I was there to distract them from shooting at you the whole time." He pointed out. Natalie looked over at him and started laughing. "What?" He asked. "Nothing that was just totally the right thing to say after what happened." She replied. She then held her side as it hurt from the laughter. "Ow, that hurt." Natalie commented. "I never had time to ask you your name." He told her. "Lt. Commander Natalie Sterling." She told him. "And you?" He frowned at her. "You don't know who I am?" He asked. "Nope, should I?" She asked. "Captain James T. Kirk." He told her. Natalie's jaw slackened in shock. "Really? Well, it's nice to meet you." She said. "I heard about what you did to save Earth, but I never got to find out anything more. Kinda preoccupied with repairing the station."

He smirked at her. "You're an engineer?" He asked. "Yep and a good one too, well at least that's what my commanding officer said." Natalie said then sighed. "He's dead, so are the captain and first officer. Out of all the people on the base only ten of us made it." She wiped the start of the tears from her eyes. "Sorry." She muttered. "Don't be, you barely survived yourself." He said. She smiled at him slightly. "Well, I probably would have been dead if you hadn't come with me." She told him. "I would have never thought about the communicator and try it, so thanks." He nodded. "Don't mention it." He told her. Natalie then realized something and pulled the data chip out from under her shirt. It was thankfully still intact. "What is that?" Kirk asked. "Something that Capt. Spitcher told me to take to Starfleet Command and only to Starfleet Command." Natalie replied. "It's a data chip." He commented. "Yeah, so?" She asked. "So, what's on it?" He asked. Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know, he gave it to me just before all hell broke loose." She told him. "All he said was that it contains something Starfleet needs if a war breaks out with the Romulans." She then gasped. "Do you think that's the reason why they attacked a research station?" She asked him.

"I think that's exactly the reason why, and I think we need to go to Earth as fast as we can." Kirk told her. "Why is that, Capt. Kirk?" She asked. "Because if they attack a Starbase for that chip, it stands to reason that they are going to come after the Enterprise." He told her. "And call me Jim." Natalie frowned. "Why would I do that?" She asked. "Because that is my name." He told her. "Well, you are way too young to be called Jim, I would maybe possibly call you James, but I am a junior officer and I can only greet you as Capt. Kirk." Natalie pointed out. Kirk rolled his eyes and got out of his bed painfully. "What are you doing?" She asked. "Getting out of here, you want to come?" He asked. "But Dr. McCoy told us that we had to stay the night at least." Natalie replied. He hobbled over to her bed. "So, Bones' bark is worse than his bite." He commented. "Come on Natalie, you just got out of hell and your stuck here." Kirk offered her his hand. Natalie hesitated. She then put her hand in his. He helped her up. Natalie stood but winced slightly as the motion pulled at her wound. "Okay, but just for a while." She said. "And I want to check up on the rest of the survivors." He smirked at her. "Good, but I have one requirement before we go." He said. Natalie bit her lip. "What is it?" She asked. "Stop calling me Capt. Kirk, I would prefer that you call me Jim, but James is fine." He said. "Okay, James." She said with a smile. He pulled her out to the hall in front of the sick bay. They made quite the couple as they slowly and painfully walked, one hobbling and the other holding their side.

"Have you ever been on a starship?" He asked. "No, but I did request to be assigned to one." She replied. "And I got sent to a Starbase." She said the last with a sad sigh. James still held her hand in his and was leading her down the many passageways. He chuckled at what she said. "Let me guess, boring?" He asked. "No, the station was falling apart." Natalie told him. "All there was to do was repairs. Not that I don't love to fix things, but I wished that I could take a little time to myself. See the stars, not from Earth but from the windows of the base. I wanted to explore the stars and I was stuck in a falling apart base and hardly ever got to see out the windows even." McCoy had discovered their absence just seconds after they left. He had been following them for the past five minutes and decided to end this little escape attempt. "Jim, what are you doing out of bed?" He asked. Both of them jumped and turned to look at him. "It was all his idea." Natalie said. "Thanks for the support." James mumbled. "For your information, Jim, I already figured that it was your idea." McCoy said. "Now you two will march your butts back to bed now." Natalie chuckled at the order. "You can't make me, Bones, I'm the captain." James pointed out. Natalie rolled her eyes. "I'm the CMO, and I can order a captain, even an admiral around when their health is at stake." McCoy said. "Now did you even happed to notice in your little escape attempt that your companion here was getting tired?" He motioned to Natalie. "That she had been walking slower and slower every second? She almost died from that last phaser shot and you have her gallivanting around the ship!" James was at a loss of words for a second.

"Yes, I did notice that, but I wasn't taking her far." He commented. "I don't care if you were taking her to the moon and back or just across the hall from the sick bay." McCoy replied. He came between them and took each of their arms. He started walking back to the sick bay. "Now, you two will get back in bed and no more escape attempts." He said. Minutes later they were back in their beds. Natalie was actually kinda of glad to lying down again, but James had his arms folded across his chest and was pouting. Natalie looked over at him. "Stop acting like a child, it's just for the night." She told him. "I could be doing better things." He said. "I need to be on the bridge." Natalie sighed. "Why do you hate sick bay so much?" She asked. "I just hate feeling useless." He told her. "You're not useless, you're healing to be that brave captain of the Enterprise again, that's all." She pointed out. "I guess you're right." He said and looked at her. "But at least the company is better than last time." Natalie smiled at him. "See, there is a bright side to everything." She said. Spock then entered the room. "I came to see how you were Captain." He said. "Oh, Spock I was just about to call you." Kirk said. "About what sir?" He asked. "We need to change our heading to Earth, there is something in Lt. Commander Sterling's possession here that Starfleet Command will need urgently." Spock's eyebrow went up in a questioning manner but he nodded. "Yes, sir." He said and left to go to the bridge.

Hope you like it! Please review, I love to know people love the story.


	5. Chapter 5: freedom and flirting

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter Five: Freedom and Flirting

It took two days instead of one for McCoy to release her. She was wearing her uniform now instead of the coverall or hospital scrubs. She had her hair up in a pony tail. As she stepped out into the hall she saw that James was leaning against a bulkhead waiting for her. He quickly looked her over in her uniform, Natalie didn't notice though. "You know that you could have walked into the sick bay and wait for me instead of out here?" She pointed out.

He smirked at her. "I don't even like visiting the sick bay." He told her. Natalie shook her head at him.

"Okay, anyway, so why are you here?" She asked. "Don't you have a starship to run?"

"Yeah, but we never finished our tour." He told her. "And I like to finish what I started." They both chuckled at that.

"Okay, lead the way, James." She told him. His smile grew as she said his name. "But I want to see my crewmembers, check up on them." He did a mock bow in front of her.

"As you wish, milady." He said seriously. They checked on her crewmembers, they had a few cuts and scrapes but were otherwise fine and ready to go home. It would take them three weeks even at the fastest warp to get to Earth. He then showed her around the ship. He took her to the bridge, mess hall, everything he could think of. When he showed her engineering he thought he would never get her out of there. She looked the engine over in interest. Scotty saw them and walked over to them, he started talking about the beauty of the engines and main engineering. When he found out that she was an engineer he started talking technical to her, they talked for a few minutes. James was standing to the side and was trying to figure out a way to get her attention back to him and not Scotty.

"Now, lass how would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" Scotty asked.

Before she could answer James interrupted. "I still have to show you some parts of the ship." He told her. Natalie turned to look at him.

"Like what?" She asked.

"You'll see." He said. She then turned back to Scotty.

"I'd love to go to dinner with you and talk more about these engines, say about 5?" Natalie asked.

"Aye, I'll await until then for your beauty to grace my presence again." He told her. Natalie smiled at him.

James led her away and they were down the hall quite a ways when she spoke again. "You have some very nice people working with you, you know that?" She asked.

"Of course, why?" James wondered. Natalie shrugged.

"It's just that Lt. Commander Scott asked me to dinner, Dr. McCoy asked me to lunch, Lt. Sulu asked if I was doing anything tomorrow and Ensign Chekov, when he was visiting the sick bay earlier today asked if I would like to join him and his friends at poker tonight." She told him. James stopped walking and stood in front of her.

"You're saying that four of my men have asked you out on a date?" He asked.

"No not dates, they said it was just to get to know me better." She told him. James sighed.

"They may have said that but they were probably hitting on you." He said. She frowned.

"Hitting on me?" She asked.

"Flirting ring a bell?" He asked.

"Oh," She said, blushing a deep red. "I can never pick up that a guy is flirting with me, it just goes over my head. I think that's why I'm a better engineer than anything else. I just don't understand the concept of flirting."

James sighed and started walking again leading her to the last place he wanted to show her. He stopped at the door and turned to her. "Close your eyes." He said.

"Why?" She asked.

"Just do it, trust me." He said. She sighed but did as she was told. He took her by the hand and led her inside the room.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" She asked. He let go of her hand and walked over to a console in the room.

"Not just yet." He answered her as he pushed a few buttons. Natalie could hear him hitting buttons then the sounds of something being retracted hit her ears. James walked back over to her. He took her hand again and had her walk a few more steps forward.

He walked behind her. "Now you can open them." He whispered in her ear. Natalie smiled and opened her eyes. She gasped at the sight she saw. He had taken her to the observation deck and opened the windows. She could see the stars zooming by the window. He had also shut the lights off so only the stars illuminated the room.

"It's beautiful." She whispered.

"Yeah, beautiful." He agreed but he wasn't looking at the stars when he said that. She turned to him.

"Thank you." She said. He smiled at her.

"Your welcome." He replied. A half hour later she had to leave and meet McCoy for lunch. James let go of her hand he was holding slowly.

"Uh, which way is the mess hall from here?" Natalie asked. He shook his head playfully.

"Follow me." He said. He showed her to the mess hall, but stopped her before she entered the room.

"Dinner, tomorrow, my quarters." He told her in a low voice so no one else could overhear them. Natalie smiled at him.

"Okay, but I don't know where your quarters are." She replied.

James held in the urge to roll his eyes as she once again didn't pick up on the flirting aspect of it. He told her where his quarters where and then let her go. As he walked away he was thinking of maybe he just had to give her lessons on how men flirted with women so she could learn to pick it up, or that would be his excuse anyway. He always loved a challenge.

Okay so chapter six is up next, I think I will have one to two more chapters of everyday things but the Romulans will come back, don't you worry. I am trying a new way to type this up so tell me if you like this or what changes I can make.


	6. Chapter 6: how men flirt 101

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter Six: How men flirt 101

The next day, Natalie and Uhura were sitting next to each other on lunch. Natalie had told her all about what happened yesterday. She then told her about all the 'dates' she had.

Lunch with McCoy was actually just friendly, not at all like what she thought a date would be.

Dinner with Scotty was mainly talking about the engines, the Enterprise and how she liked it living on a Starbase, he did flirt with her. At least that's what Natalie thought, of course she was horrible at that one, but he did ask her out to dinner the next night. Natalie had to tell him though that she was having dinner with James, his smile fell a bit when she said that but he said that he would see her later.

Poker night with Chekov and his friends was fun; he also was not actually looking for a date as in a date but get to know her as a friend.

Sulu though was another story. He was asking her out on a date. She thought he was nice but he was a very bad flirter, she could pick up that he was flirting easily. He was also a little too touchy for her tastes. Not like feeling her up, but his arm across her shoulder. Holding her hand brushing against her knee. At the end of their date, Natalie politely thanked him and then when he was about to ask her out again she said that she had a boyfriend and then left him alone in front of the room she was assigned to.

Uhura chuckled and shook her head at her. "Well you need lessons on how men flirt and that's for sure." She told her.

Natalie smiled. "Yeah, I guess I do." She replied. "Why do men flirt anyway, isn't just easier to say it plain?" Uhura rolled her eyes.

"One day, you'll get why." She said. "Now about this dinner with the captain tonight. I expect that he has decided to teach you how men flirt by flirting with you."

"Okay, so what's your point?" Natalie asked. Uhura smiled at her.

"Come with me." She said. Uhura led Natalie to her quarters. She went to her closet and pulled some clothes out.

"Now, you need something to wear to this dinner." Uhura said.

"I have something to wear, this." Natalie replied and gestured to her uniform. Uhura rolled her eyes.

"That would only be appropriate if you intended to view this as just a dinner." She said.

"I do view this as just a dinner." Natalie replied.

"You are so naïve; one Kirk is doing this to hit on you something fierce. Two, he wants to keep you away from the other men who have asked you out." Uhura explained.

Natalie shook her head. "I just don't get this whole thing." She said. "So what should I wear to this dinner?"

Uhura smiled. "Something that would knock him off his feet and derail his entire lesson plan he has for you." She said.

"Okay, but what if it just makes him want to do other things?" Natalie asked. Uhura chuckled.

"You need to use your head on that one, if he tries anything, just tell him goodnight and leave." She told her. "And a good right hook might help." Natalie nodded.

"Okay, so choose away." Natalie said. Uhura handed her some clothes.

"Try this on." She told her. Natalie looked at it.

"Are you sure, because I don't think I'll look good in it." She said. Uhura pushed Natalie towards her bathroom.

"Just trust me, and besides if this one doesn't work I have a few more ideas." She said.

A few hours later and it was time for the date. They had tried on about five dresses. Natalie had dismissed some as soon as she put them on. Uhura liked tight, flashy dresses. One showed way to much as she wasn't going to walk in his quarters like that. One was way too shiny. She finally picked one that was the plainest thing in Uhura's closet. It was a dark blue dress. It was a halter top with a plunging neck line that showed some cleavage but not too much. It stopped mid-thigh just like the uniforms she wore, Uhura tried to put her in stilettos but Natalie out right refused. She could not walk on heels, let alone those little points those shoes had. So Uhura handed her a shoe that had a lower heel. It was still a high heel but it was short enough of a heel that she could walk in it.

Natalie walked up to his door and prayed that it was what Uhura told her it was and that she was dressed properly. She pushed the chime on his door and waited. James opened the door seconds later. He was wearing a dark button up shirt and dress pants. He looked her over and smiled.

"Wow, I haven't seen you in a dress like that." He said. "You look gorgeous."

Natalie blushed. "Thanks, Uhura let me borrow it." She said. "You look handsome by the way."

James let her in and she saw that he had set up a table with a tablecloth and candles. He set the food and drinks out. He then led her to her seat. She sat down and he pushed it in for her. He went around and sat in his seat.

"So how were your other dates?" He asked. She frowned at him.

"Isn't that rule number one, not to talk about any other dates?" She asked.

"Yes, but I'm curious at what they tried." James told her.

"Why, so you can change tactics?" She asked.

"You've been talking to Uhura to much." He commented. She chuckled.

"You know after our talk yesterday, I was thinking something." He said.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like give you lessons on how men flirt." James replied.

"How men flirt 101." She added and he smiled. "Okay, so how are you exactly going to do it?"

"Okay, I'll say a sentence and you'll tell me if I'm flirting or not." He said.

"Let's begin then." Natalie told him.

"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" He said.

Natalie chuckled. "That's easy, flirting and Sulu tried that one." She said.

"Really?" He commented. "Something harder then. Um, oh here's one. Why don't you and me go someplace quiet?"

She was silent for a second. "Um, I'm going to take a guess here, flirting, I hope?" She asked.

He nodded. "See, you can pick up if a guy is hitting on you or not." James told her.

"Well, Uhura did warn me that you would find an excuse to flirt, big time." Natalie replied.

James chuckled. "And what else did she warn you about?" He asked.

"She told me that you were a playboy and a womanizer, but I told her that I didn't believe it because you're so nice to me." Natalie said. "Unless you're only nice to me because you don't find me attractive." She blushed but continued. "And she said that you would try to keep me away from the other men who asked me out on a date."

James chuckled. "Wow, she is intuitive." He said. They had finished dinner and Natalie stood up to leave, but felt a hand on her arm. She turned back to see James standing next to her. "I want to see you again." He said.

"Okay, when because Scotty asked me to assist him in Engineering until we arrive at Earth." Natalie said.

"Tomorrow night, my quarters again." He said.

"You know that if I keep coming to your quarters, people will talk." Natalie said.

He looked at her. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow night, your quarters." She said. He smirked at her.

"Oh and I find you very attractive just so you know." He told her. Natalie blushed a dark red.

"Thanks, it's late and I probably need to…" She was cut off when kissed her. At first she didn't couldn't even move or breath. She then began to kiss him back. It was a sweet tender kiss that left her wanting more. He pulled back and smiled at her.

"I bet the other guys didn't try that one." He said. Natalie laughed.

"No they didn't." She replied. He then led her to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." She replied. The door opened behind them and she was about to walk out but he still had a hold of her arm. He let his fingers slip down her arm to her hand; he then brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the top of her hand.

"Good night." He said.

"Good night." Natalie replied. The door then closed between them. She turned and started to walk to her room, smiling all the way.


	7. Chapter 7: suprise

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter Seven: Surprise

It had now been four days since they left the Starbase. Natalie enjoyed her time working in Engineering. She and James had had dinner together the last three nights. She was beginning to fall for him. She wondered if he felt the same. She put that thought to the back of her mind and wondered if she was going to still work on Starbase 24 when they gained back control of it. Or if she could request a position on a Starship, she would love to work on the Enterprise. Scotty enjoyed her help and he needed a co-chief engineer.

She would be in command of Engineering when he was gone and also take some of the paperwork off his hands. She asked James about it one day and he said that he would try and make that happen. Her shift was over and she was walking back to her room to take a relaxing shower when suddenly a blast hit the ship and it immediately dropped out of warp. She didn't have to long to think about whom did it as she and the rest of the survivors from the Starbase were beamed onto the Romulan ship that finally found them and then it quickly warped away.

On the bridge they felt the hit and the fast drop out of warp. "Sir, the Romulans are beaming the survivors of the Starbase onto their ship!" Chekov exclaimed.

"Raise shields!" James ordered.

Chekov pushed the button and the shields raised but it was too late, they had beamed them all up. They then watched as they turned back and warped away. "Follow them!" James shouted.

"They hit one of the nacelles, I'm sorry sir, but we can't follow." Scotty told him over the comms.

James slumped in the captain's chair. "Is there anything we can do?" He asked.

"No, sir." Sulu was the only one to reply.

"We can't just let the Romulans take them." Uhura stated.

"Until we fix the warp engines that is all we can do." Spock told her.

"We know where they are going anyway." James said.

"Where?" Uhura asked.

"Back to Romulus, they wanted that data chip badly didn't they?" James commented mainly to himself.

"Sir, was Lt. Commander Sterling still carrying it around?" Sulu asked.

James shook his head. "No, she gave it to me for safe keeping." He replied. "Scotty, get all of your men on fixing those engines and fast."

"Aye, sir." Scotty said over the comms.

Meanwhile on the Romulan ship. Natalie and the others were put in a crude brig. They were each in a separate cell. She guessed that it was to keep down the attempts to escape. It was only minutes before two Romulans came in and stopped in the middle of the cells. One you could tell was just a foot soldier but the other was a high ranking officer. "I want the data chip that was taken from us." He said.

No one said anything. The head Romulan nodded to the other one with him. That one took out his phaser and shot into one of the cells, killing the person inside. The head Romulan decided to change tactics. They had finally broken the computer lockout and searched the computer for the information first. When they found nothing he had them download the computer into their ships memory banks for further uses. He pushed some buttons on the padd he held and was looking at the crew manifest to see who the people were in his cells.

He was looking for the highest ranking officer of the group; they had to be the ones that possessed the chip. He finally found what he was looking for and motioned to the one with him to unlock a cell and bring the person with them. Of course just her luck, Natalie was the highest ranking officer. The Romulan opened her cell and pulled her to her feet as hard as he could causing her shoulder to pop out of its socket. She yelped as she felt the pain but said nothing. He then pulled her from the room still holding onto the same arm. While he was pulling her to god knows where she thought in the back of her mind of what would happen when they didn't find the chip on anyone.

Time for some action again. Will the Enterprise fix its engines in time to save them? Where are they taking Natalie? All will be answered in the next chapter, until then read and review!!


	8. Chapter 8: interrogation

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter Eight: Interrogation

Natalie was pulled into a room. It had two chairs in the middle of the room. The Romulan that was pulling her by her hurt arm roughly placed her in the first chair he came to. He then strapped down her legs and arms by straps that were on the chair. As he walked away Natalie tried to see if they would loosen any but no luck. The high ranking Romulan sat down in the other chair and looked at her.

"I'm Commander R'lmus of the grand ship your on the Valiant." He began. "Now, Lt. Commander Natalie Sterling, I know that you have something in your possession that belongs to me."

"Your men searched us before they put us in the cells, you know I don't have what ever you want." She said. R'lmus frowned.

"You need to be more cooperative my dear or things could go badly for you and the rest of the survivors." He said snidely.

Natalie wondered why he hadn't thought of her leaving it on the Enterprise, but didn't say anything. R'lmus nodded to the guard that was still in the room. He walked up to her and hit her across the face.

"Where did you hide it!" R'lmus shouted. She tasted blood on her lips and felt some trickle down the side of her face, she glanced over to the guard and noticed that he had held a small knife as he hit her. He must have cut her face with it.

"You're smart, you figure it out yourself." She shot back. That earned her a stab in her shoulder.

Meanwhile on the Enterprise, repairs were going as fast as they could. James was pacing back and forth across the bridge. Every few minutes since the Romulan vessel left he contacted Engineering for an update, Scotty stopped answering him after the fifth time. He was angry at himself for not thinking that they would try something like this. McCoy had come up, he, Spock and the rest of the bridge crew were watching their captain pace back and forth. Finally McCoy had enough, when James came over to where he was standing, he grabbed him by the arm to stop his pacing.

"Stop it." He said.

"Stop what?" James asked.

"The guilt trip you're on." McCoy said.

"It's my fault, Bones." He said. "I should have thought that they would be following us, looking for an appropriate time to strike."

McCoy sighed. "Jim, is this because of that or because you are falling for Lt. Commander Sterling?" He asked gently.

James gave him a hard look. "I'm captain of a ship that let down survivors of an attack." He stated. "I have to get this ship fixed and save them. But not just because of any personal feelings towards any one member of the group."

"Bull." McCoy commented. "I've seen you two together. I've seen the way you acted towards her and looked at her. She is the first woman you've truly fallen in love with and you want to go be that knight in shining armor and rescue her."

James looked at him, angry for a moment. He processed his words and let them sink in. He was right and this wasn't about saving the people that were taken but just to save her. He looked at his watch, it had now been five hours since the attack happened. Five hours that they could have been doing any number of things to them. Just then Scotty called up to the bridge.

"Sir, I fixed the engines enough so we can chase after those Romulans!" He exclaimed.

McCoy let James' arm go. James looked at him and then walked over and sat in the captain's chair.

"Sulu, fastest warp you can manage, let's find that ship." He ordered.

"Yes, sir." Sulu replied.

The Enterprise jumped into warp, they were heading back to Romulan space using sensors to locate the warp field trail that the Romulans left behind. As James watched the stars go by, he wished that he found the ship and saved them, no, her before it was to late.

Back on the Valiant, Natalie had now been thoroughly beaten and one of her legs was now broke. R'lmus looked at her.

"Where is the chip?!" He asked. "This is the last time I ask nicely."

She chuckled at that. "It's on the Enterprise, you dolt." She said. That earned her another hit on the face.

He looked angry, actually he looked to kill. He was about to say something when a blast happened and they dropped out of warp quickly.

"Sir, it's the Enterprise!" One of his men said over the comms.

Cliffhanger!! Reviews will get the next chapter up quicker, otherwise it will be up in the next three days. So read and review!!


	9. Chapter 9: knight in shinning armor time

My time on the Enterprise

Author's note: I had someone ask if she was a Vulcan or Human. Natalie is a human. With that out of the way on with the story.

Chapter Nine: Knight in shinning armor time.

The Enterprise took out the Valiant's engines quickly. The Romulan ship raised their shields and started firing back.

"Take out their shields." James ordered.

"Aye, Captain." Chekov replied. After a few moments the shields were down and they had managed to take out their photon torpedoes and some of their phasers. Of course it didn't come with out a price. The Enterprise's shields were down to fifty percent and they had lost their photon torpedoes but not their phasers.

"Sir, we are receiving a hail from the Romulan vessel." Uhura said.

"Put it on screen." James said.

Commander R'lmus appeared on screen with the nine remaining survivors sitting on their knees in front of him. James could tell that all of them had been beaten and blooded but was nothing compared to what it looked like they did to Natalie. James clenched his hands that were to his sides in anger.

"I am Commander R'lmus of the Valiant." He said.

"Well Commander R'lmus, your ship is a sitting duck now." James said. "The next blast could destroy you. I propose an exchange though, your ship survives and we allow it to return to Romulan space in exchange for the survivors beamed back to our ship."

The Commander narrowed his eyes. "I want that chip." He said.

James held up the chip on its chain. "This one?" He asked.

"Yes, give it to me and I'll let some of the survivors go, the rest I'll let go when we reach Romulan space." R'lmus said.

"No deal." James stated.

"So be it." R'lmus said. He pulled out a phaser and held it behind Natalie's head. "Give me the chip or I'll kill her before you can move or beam her up."

Natalie looked up on the view screen and met James' eyes. 'No.' She mouthed to him.

James sighed and looked at the chip dangling from his hand. Was the chip worth her life? He already knew the answer and turned back to the Commander.

"Deal, I'll give you the chip, but you release all of the survivors." James said.

"Now, how will I know that you won't blow me up as soon as you have them aboard?" R'lmus asked.

"Because I'll beam myself over along with the chip." James said. All the bridge crew looked at him with shock. "When you go to Romulan space and pass by the Starbase that you attacked. You can beam me over there and my ship will pick me up later."

R'lmus thought a moment. "Deal, but I also keep one of the Starbase personnel to decode the chip." He said.

James frowned. "Who?" He asked.

"Lt. Commander Sterling." R'lmus replied.

James knew that they didn't have any other choice if they wanted the survivors saved. "Deal." He said.

"I'll see you in two minutes." R'lmus said and then the screen went black.

James sighed and turned to Spock. "Spock, you have the bridge." He said then headed to the turbolift.

Spock followed him to the lift and got on with him.

"Sir, why are you doing this?" He asked.

"Call me Jim, Spock." James replied first. "I'm doing this to save those people."

"But giving them the chip over one life is illogical." Spock stated. "That chip could be priceless to Starfleet. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

James turned to him. "The chip is not worth all of the people that died to protect it." He said waving it in front of his First Officers face. "I am not willing to let one more person die over this."

Spock looked at his expression for a moment. The lift doors opened and James started walking to the transporter room. Spock followed moments later. He stood at the foot of the transporter pad and look at James as he got ready to transport.

"You care for Lt. Commander Sterling." Spock stated.

"Is it that noticeable?" James asked with a smirk.

"Is that why you backed down when he was going to kill her?" Spock asked.

"Let me put it this way Spock." James said. "If you were in my shoes and Uhura was in Natalie's. Would you do the same?"

Spock thought for just a millisecond, picturing the scene in his mind. "I see your point, Jim." He said finally.

James smiled. "Beam me over, Scotty." He then ordered. Scotty did as was ordered.

James appeared in the Romulan ship's transporter pad seconds later. R'lmus, Natalie and the other survivors were waiting for him. James saw that R'lmus was holding Natalie against him and still had his phaser pointed at her head.

"Step off the pad." He ordered. James walked over to be a few feet in front of him and Natalie.

"You are now free." R'lmus said to the other survivors. "Get on the pad and we'll beam you over to the Enterprise." They did just that and he was a man of his word, they made it one piece to the Enterprise.

"The chip." R'lmus said with his hand held out. James walked closer and handed the Romulan the chip. He looked at it a moment and smiled.

"You actually brought the actual chip." R'lmus stated.

"What did you think I would try?" James asked.

"Take up back to our space." R'lmus ordered the bridge.

"Your engines are dead." James pointed out.

"That's what we let you think." R'lmus said. "You see, I knew that you would gladly sacrifice yourself to save those people. Now I have the captain of the Enterprise as my prisoner."

The Valiant powered up its engines and took off in warp. Spock thought they might have been working on their engines as the two commanding officers talked. He ordered the Enterprise on a pursuit course but far enough back to not raise suspicion with the Romulans.

R'lmus smiled at James. "You thought that you were so smart, but I was smarter."

He then turned Natalie, she cried out in pain and it made her broken leg that he was making her stand on burn in pain.

"Now my dear, you are going to get this chip to work." He told her. "And you will do it right or I'll make you and the captain here pay." He pushed her away and her leg finally broke worse and she collapsed onto the ground.

James was to her in seconds, he looked at her leg and now could see bone protruding from her leg. R'lmus laughed at them. "Pick her up." He ordered.

James gently picked her up. She cried out as he jarred her shoulder that was out of joint. She then put her one almost good arm around his neck, whimpering silently as she felt the stab area tear worse.

"She needs medical attention or she won't make it." James said.

"After she gets this chip working, her life is pointless." R'lmus said. Two guards came on either side of James. He looked at Natalie for a second. She had now put her head against his shoulder and he felt the tears she was crying against his neck. He swore that somehow someway, he was going to get them out of here in one piece.


	10. Chapter 10: decoding the chip

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter Ten: Decoding the chip

R'lmus led them to a computer console. James sat Natalie down in the chair in front of it. He then tore a strip of his uniform shirt off and wrapped it around her leg, covering the protruding bone. One to stop infection and two to stop the bleeding. R'lmus put the chip in a slot on the computer. Information began pouring on the screen, all in gibberish.

"Get to work." He said. He then left them with two guards and locked the door behind him. James sat in the chair for the next console over. Natalie bit her lip; this was going to be hard. She was an engineer, not a decoder. Besides her mind was fuzzy with the pain, she had taken classes and could do the basic codes. She just hoped that it was enough. It looked like maybe just a computer subroutine could do it but which one to try?

James leaned over to her. "Are you going to be able to do it?" He whispered in her ear.

"I think so." She whispered back. James kissed her cheek gently.

"I will get us both out of here somehow, you can count on it." He told her. Natalie nodded and started working on the decoding process. While she was doing that James was trying to think of a way to get them out of here. He glanced over the guards and wondered if he could take them out.

He looked at Natalie. He saw that she was in pain and a lot of it. Her leg was still bleeding badly, he could tell that one of her shoulders was out of its socket and the other had a stab wound. He sighed; she couldn't help him break out at all. What the hell was he going to do now?

On the Enterprise Spock, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov were having a strategy session on the bridge on how to get the captain and the lt. commander off the ship.

"Can we do transwarp beaming to get them out?" Chekov suggested.

"Lad, it was hard enough to beam me and the captain from Delta Vega to here." Scotty said. "That was from a stationary planet to a ship in warp. This would be from a ship in warp to a ship in warp. It's such an impossibility that it staggers the mind."

"Well, what else can we do?" Sulu asked.

Spock looked over them. "There is one way to do it, but we will have only one chance." He told them. "Follow me." He added and headed to the turbolift.

The other three men followed. Spock had them go to the transporter room. "If we beam them to the transporter room instead of a uncertain place it would reduce the chances of failure."

Scotty thought a moment. "Aye, but we need to be closer to the Romulan ship to do it." He said. Spock nodded.

Back on the Valiant, Natalie hadn't gotten any farther. James had his chin in his hands and was leaning against the console.

"James, I can't do it." She whispered finally. He looked over at her. He was about to say something when he saw the light of the transporter start to envelope them. The guards thankfully were asleep, thinking that they couldn't get out of this room anyway. Natalie turned and grabbed the chip out of the computer in front of her before they were completely transported to the Enterprise. The Enterprise then warped away, shields now raised. Spock was certain that the Romulan ship wouldn't come back. Natalie had successfully got the chip back but it had been copied by the Romulan computer so the Commander of that ship got what he needed.

McCoy was waiting for them to appear. They both appeared in a seated position and fell to the ground after the transporter finished. McCoy leapt into action. James stood quickly, he was fine not a scrape on him. Natalie was the one in serious condition. McCoy scanned her and picked her up quickly running to sick bay, with his team and James on his heels.

A half hour later and Natalie was lying on a bed unconscious, the monitor above her bed beeping steadily. James was sitting in a chair next to her bed, holding her hand. McCoy walked up behind him. "Jim, get some sleep." He said.

"Not, until I know she's okay." He replied.

McCoy sighed. "Jim, a few hours sleep won't make a difference in her condition." He told him. "She was severely injured, stab wounds, dislocated shoulder, broken leg, bruises, broken ribs. Not to mention infection from the horrible conditions she was kept in. Right now I have her sedated because of the intense pain she is in."

James looked up at his friend. "Will she make it?" He asked.

"I don't know, they did a good number on her." McCoy replied. "I think that she was just holding out enough strength until she was off that ship. Now it's like she has almost given up the fight, her body is trying to let go, her mind is slowly shutting down. But her heart is beating as fast as it can to keep her alive."

"What can I do?" James asked.

"Talk to her, give her something to fight for." McCoy replied. He pushed a few buttons on the hypo in his hand and then pressed it to her neck.

"I'm waking her up slightly so you can talk to her." He said. "She will be groggy and will go in and out. If she has too much distress call me immediately."

James nodded. "Thank you Bones." He said. McCoy patted James on the shoulder then left the room. Natalie woke up minutes later.

"Hey." James said.

"Hey." She said quietly back. "Why are you here, don't you have a ship to run?"

James chuckled. "Not right now, Spock is taking care of the ship." He said. "So I can watch over you."

"That's nice of him." She replied. She closed her eyes for a few moments then opened them back up and looked at him.

"Why are you so sad?" Natalie asked.

"You're in bad shape." He told her. James then picked up her hand he was holding and kissed the back of it.

"I'm not going to make it, am I?" She asked.

"You're not giving up, you hear me?" James said sternly. "You will fight until there is no more fighting."

"Why?" She asked. "What is there for me to fight for?" She asked.

"Do you have family?" He asked.

"No, my mother was my last living relative and she died three years ago." Natalie replied.

"Ok, well how about me?" James asked slowly.

Natalie looked at him. "James, we have only gone out on three dates all together." She said. "I mean, have we had any time to figure out what we mean to each other?"

"All I needed was those three dates to know that you were the one for me." James said.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes, really." James replied. "I am totally, one hundred percent in love with you. I need you in my life now and forever. Just please find the will to fight."

Natalie slowly raised her other hand and then gently cupped his cheek. "James, I'm in love with you too." She said.

James smirked then leaned over her and kissed her sweetly and gently. He then whispered something in her ear.

He leaned back and she smiled at him. "I'm going to hold you to that, mister." Natalie said groggily.

"I hope you do." James told her. Natalie closed her eyes and she fell asleep. James kissed her forehead and then put his head and shoulders on the bed, falling asleep himself.

Author's note: In one more chapter this story will be complete. I am thinking of continuing it as a series of stories of her life on the Enterprise. Tell me if I should stop after this chapter or continue. If you want me to continue, I would really love ideas on what trouble she, Kirk and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise can get into. Thank you. As always read and review.


	11. Chapter 11: given the stars

My time on the Enterprise

Chapter Eleven: Given the stars

Natalie was slowly getting better day by day. A week later she was released from the sick bay. She was currently standing on the observation deck looking out at the stars passing by. She heard the door open behind her but didn't turn. She then felt his arms wrap around her waist. James kissed the back of her neck.

"What are you doing up here?" He asked. She turned to him and smiled.

"Just thinking." She replied. James leaned forward and kissed her.

He then slowly pulled back and stopped the kiss. "About what?" He asked.

"Things, my career, you." She told him.

"And how is that going?" He wondered, smirking.

Natalie put her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder. She felt his arms tighten around her waist and he pulled her closer. "What's going to happen if I get sent back to the Starbase?" She asked. "What if I get sent somewhere else?" She looked back up at him.

"Well don't worry about that." James said. "We contacted Starfleet about what had happened recently and they don't think that staffing the Starbase with the same personnel is the best idea. They'll see where to put you and the rest of the crew that survived. I requested you personally and actually all the rest of the survivors. The ship could really use all of you."

Natalie smiled at him. "You think of everything." She told him. "But what if I get sent somewhere else?"

James kissed her then put his forehead against hers. "We'll figure something out; I'm not giving up on us that easily." He told her.

"So when are we going to arrive at Earth?" She asked.

"Next week." He replied.

Next week arrived swiftly. Natalie was occupied with repairs to the engines and the ship itself. They arrived in orbit around Earth and then she, the other survivors, and James beamed down to Starfleet headquarters. They handed over the chip to Command. They were never told of what was on the chip but were thanked for delivering it. The Enterprise itself was undergoing repairs it would take a few days to complete. Natalie and the other survivors were debriefed and then given their new orders. They were all joining the Enterprise!!

Natalie smiled and when she was released went over to where the Enterprise crew were staying until the ship was repaired. She found James' room and told him the news. He smirked.

"See, there was nothing to worry about." He said. Natalie laughed at that.

"Yeah, I guess you were right about that." She said. "You know, this makes me think about something my mother told me before she died."

James frowned. "And what's that?" He asked.

"Well you're going to laugh about why this certain one popped into my head." She told him. "But my mom told me that I shouldn't fall in love unless the guy can give me the stars from the sky."

James had the look of confusion on his face. Natalie laughed.

"Let me explain: I was stuck on a Starbase and never got to look out at the stars or explore them." She said. "But you rescued me from there and now that I'm going to be working on the Enterprise, I get to explore and see the stars. So technically you gave me the stars."

James shook his head and then chuckled at her. "Okay, I guess I did." He commented.

Authors note: This is the end of the story so far. I will now do one shot or multi chapter stories. It might take me longer to update. Right now I have to figure out what to do next. So read and review, also give me ideas on stories.


	12. IDEAS!

IDEAS!!!!!!

Here are some ideas I think I might want to put into the story. Vote and tell me which one you want first or if I should just not use that idea.

Idea 1. Pirates. I actually have two ways of doing this one. One way is to have them attacked by space pirates. The one I really am thinking of trying is that Natalie actually has either a father or brother that she pretends that is dead. He is actually a space pirate captain. The Enterprise engines died and they need a tow to the nearest planet. The only closest planet is the pirate planet called Tortuga, only pirates know where it is. Before she entered into Starfleet she spent from age eighteen to when her mother died when she twenty one on her father/brother's ship. She has to contact her father/brother and have them take the ship to the planet, craziness ensues. If you like this story tell me if it's either father or brother.

Idea 2. Either go backwards or forwards in time. I haven't really thought about this one much. If I do this one I might bring Q over and have him to stuff to them.

Idea 3. James hurt seriously. The ship is attacked by some race, you choose. James is hurt and Bones has to race to save him. I think this idea has been used in other stories but maybe I just need a good plot twist to help this one.

Idea 4. Natalie and James have a big fight. Something happens either one or the other is taken hostage or almost killed. They patch things up. I don't think I want to use this one just yet; I just got them both back from being hostages.

Idea 5. Q, just have Q. He appears and either he has them learn a lesson or even they could almost use the story in Next Gen where Picard has to save his lady friend by being Robin Hood. Or even have them do a whole different adventure. Maybe Natalie has to save James from something, or she has to learn a lesson. Or it could just be Q being Q.

Okay that is five ideas running around my head. On some of them I just need a good suggestion on how to start it. Vote and tell me which one you'd like to see first!!! Thank you!!!


	13. Party and two suprises

My time on the Enterprise

A party and two surprises

Chapter one in the pirate series.

They decided to throw a party to liven up the spirits of the crew. It had now been a month since they had finished repairs and gone back out into deep space. The party was lively and fun. The ship was on autopilot and everyone was there at the party. Liquor and other beverages were being served. Natalie and James had been together most of the night. They had been going out much more now and it was turning serious. She had a fruity nonalcoholic drink in her hand. She had to work very early the next morning and she decided not to do it with a pounding hangover. James had some kind of alcohol but he never really said what it was.

The party went on well into the night. Natalie was getting tired and knew that she had to get up early in the morning. "Hey, I'm going to call it a night." She told James.

He smirked at her. "Do you want me to walk you to your room?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No, enjoy the party." She told him. James kissed her and then Natalie left to go to bed.

The next morning Natalie had been working for about three hours when it was about breakfast time. She decided to stop by James' quarters and see if he wanted to join her. She walked up and hit the chime; surprisingly she was met by a young nurse she had just met when they shipped out last month.

"Hello." The lady said. She had blond hair that came down to her waist. Blue eyes and was only wearing a tee-shirt and panties. Natalie frowned for a moment.

"This is Captain Kirk's quarters right?" She asked.

The lady nodded. "Yes it is." She replied. Just then James came up to the door in just his boxers. Natalie looked at him and then just walked away. She knew that if she didn't she was going to explode at him and it wasn't going to be pretty.

James swore and chased after her. "Natalie, wait up!" He shouted. She didn't stop instead she increased her pace. James ran to catch up to her, grabbed her by the waist and turned her to face him.

"It was just a mistake, I was too drunk and she was flirting, next thing I know I'm waking up hearing the chime." He told her. Natalie shook her head at him.

"Why did I think that you would change your ways for me?" She asked, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Why didn't you say no?"

James looked at her. "I don't know, I just don't know." He replied. Natalie looked away from him.

"Well, I hope that you enjoyed your time with her." Natalie said. "Because it is over between us."

She turned to walk away but James stopped her. "Can we at least talk this out?" He begged.

"Talk this out?!" Natalie said, starting to raise her voice a little. "You think that this can be resolved by talking it out?!"

James frowned. "We can't just let our relationship stop because of this one little thing!" He shouted back.

"Oh yes we can!" Natalie shot back. James quickly grabbed her and kissed her hard. He hoped that it would make her see that this could still work out.

He then stopped the kiss. "How dare you after what you did!" Natalie shouted, slapping him across the face as hard as she could then stomped down the corridor. James just stood there touching the cheek she slapped watching her walk away.

He then hung his head and headed back to his quarters, hoping that the nurse had already left. Thankfully she had. He got dressed and made his way up to the bridge. He sat down in the captain's chair and glanced around the room. He noticed Natalie was on the bridge working at the engineers station on the bridge. Suddenly the ship rocked as it was hit by enemy fire. It was space pirates! The fight lasted a while but eventually the pirate ship won. The Enterprise had sustained minimal damage but in all the right places. The shields were down, also the weapons and engines were offline. The pirates hailed them.

They put them on screen and Natalie's jaw dropped. "I am Captain Nate Sterling of the pirate ship Resolute and you are now my prisoners." He said. Natalie knew there was one chance to get them all out of this alive.

"I am Captain James T. Kirk of the Enterprise." James replied. Nate smiled.

"I have won against the Federations flag ship, this just gets better." He commented. Natalie stood from her post and came to be next to the captain's chair. James glanced at her direction and wondered what was going on, he still hadn't connected the last names.

"Nate Sterling, why the hell have you attacked my ship!!" Natalie shouted. Nate turned to her and his mouth dropped in shock.

"Little Sparky!" He exclaimed. Everyone on the bridge turned in her direction.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "That is not going to get you out the explanation of why you attacked my ship!" She shouted. James looked over at her.

"It's my ship!" He pointed out. Natalie looked at him then back at the screen.

"Ok, his ship." She amended.

"Sparky just calm down I didn't know you were on this ship." Nate said. "The last I heard you were on that Starbase."

"Sparky?" James commented with a smile.

Natalie looked over at him. "You better not be thinking about anything you can associate with that word." She quietly told him. She then looked back up at the screen. "Well what are you going to do now Big Brother?"

Everyone's jaws on the bridge dropped. James looked between Natalie and Nate. He could now tell that they were related. They looked similar. But that wasn't all. Someone else came on the screen. He was the poster guy for the tall, dark and handsome category.

"Sparky, it is you!" He exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in three years!"

"Hello, Dylan." Natalie replied.

"How is my fiancé?" He asked. James looked at her with anger in his eyes. She goes off on him for cheating and she has a secret brother and fiancé!

First chapter!! Read and review.


	14. Plans

My time on the Enterprise

Plans

Chapter two in the pirate series.

"Ex, ex-fiancé." Natalie replied. "Now you two are going to help us fix this ship or so help me I'm going to personally make you pay."

Dylan smirked at her. "And how would you do that?" He asked.

"Turn you in to the Federation." She said sweetly. "And tell them where to find Tortuga."

The men on the screen narrowed their eyes and then turned and talked to each other for a moment. James took that moment to turn to Natalie.

"Care to explain?" He asked. She looked at him.

"Later." She said sternly.

The two pirates turned back to them. "Ok, Sparky we are going to help you but the only closest planet to make repairs is Tortuga." Nate said.

"Well tow us there since you took out our engines." Natalie said.

"We just don't take a group of Starfleet officers to the heart of the pirate society!" Dylan exclaimed.

"We are not Starfleet." Natalie said with a devious smile. "You see me and my pirate crew here took over the ship and captured the crew."

Nate smiled back at her. "You always thought up the most interesting ways to get out of trouble." He commented. "Ok, Captain Natalie what next?"

"You and Dylan beam over here and we'll talk about it." She said. "I promise on the pirate code of parlay that no harm will come to you."

"See you in ten minutes." Nate said then the transmission cut off. She then turned to James.

"James, Spock, follow me to the transporter pad." She ordered and walked to the turbolift. James frowned at her retreating back, and then muttering under his breath followed her. Spock had entered a few seconds earlier. After the doors closed James turned to her.

"What the hell gives you the right to take over my ship!" He exclaimed.

Natalie crossed her arms over her chest. "I used to be a pirate before I joined Starfleet." She said. "Actually it helped me go though the academy faster, two years instead of four."

"She is correct Captain, if we are to survive this plan she needs to be in command." Spock added.

"Okay so she can be captain until this situation is resolved." James said unhappily.

"Now, all of the bridge crew and command staff will be the ones 'captured'." Natalie added. "The backup bridge crew will be my pirate crew. Also one of them from the other ship will have to be first officer."

James just shook his head. "Now where is this planet we are being taken to?" James asked.

"Tortuga, it's the central planet in the pirate society." Natalie replied. "Oh and we are going to delete the record of our visit and the location of the planet. We can't have the Federation finding out where it is."

James grabbed her by the shoulders. "In case you've forgotten but you are part of the Federation." He said. "You are a Starfleet officer and you cannot touch or change the records."

Natalie looked at him. "I don't need your help to do it." She said.

"I can have you locked up for treason." He stated. Natalie came up on her toes to be eyelevel with him.

"Go ahead, I dare you." She said. The lift then made it to the transporter room. Scotty was sitting at the controls. "Oh and we need to have the crew that are playacting change into pirate garb, they won't believe us if we are wearing Starfleet uniforms."

"Beam them over Scotty." Natalie said. He did and the two men walked off the platform and two security guards came up to them.

Natalie looked at James. "I still run the ship right now." He said.

James stepped in front of her and towards the two men. The guards were there to make sure that they didn't try anything while on the Enterprise. "Welcome to the Enterprise." James said.

Nate looked him over. "Hello, Captain Kirk." He said. He put his hand out to shake but James didn't take it. "Nice to meet you." Nate added sarcastically.

Natalie walked up behind James and Nate went past him and swept her up into a hug. He spun her around and then sat her down.

Then Dylan walked up to her. James' hands were itching to pull her away from that man and then punch that sickly sweet smile off his face. Dylan brushed her cheek and she smiled at him. James had to turn away before he did something that would ruin this plan.

They made their way to the conference room. Natalie, James and Spock sat on one side in that order. Nate and Dylan sat on the other. They talked it out. The bridge crew and command staff will be in the brig just at the planet and while repairs are being done. James muttered something after this but he agreed. If there is a ship emergency that is in danger of destroying the ship and crew, Kirk and Spock has an override code to be let out and take back over the ship. Dylan was staying over to be the first officer.

The meeting then dispersed. Nate went back to his ship and they started towing the ship to the planet. They would be there in two days. Kirk ordered all command staff and bridge crew to report to the conference room. The rest of the crew was to report to the mess hall for pirate clothing and instructions.

"Don't worry, it won't be long." Natalie promised. She turned and left the room. Dylan looked them over before he too left the room. Natalie and Dylan were walking to her quarters for her to get out her pirate clothes that she actually still had and change. She opened her door and he followed her.

Natalie took her clothes and changed in her bathroom. She then walked out. She was wearing a tight black tank top that stopped at her midriff, showing off her flat stomach. She had a black leather fitted long jacket on and tight black leather pants. Natalie let her hair down out of the bun it was in and braided two side of it then pulled them together in the back and tied it with a black ribbon. Dylan smiled at her as she came out.

"Now that is the Sparky I remember." He commented. Natalie rolled her eyes.

"I'm just doing this to save this ship and crew." She said.

"You know after you save this ship and crew you can come with us, with me." He said.

Natalie shook her head. "That chapter in my life is over; I am a Starfleet officer now." She told him.

He walked up closer to her. "You know I haven't stopped loving you." He said.

She looked up at him. "Dylan, we were young, eighteen and stupid." She told him.

He then pulled her to him and kissed her.

Oh no, what will happen next? How will James react to what she is wearing now? Will she stay with the ship or choose the pirates? Is there anyone liking this or what? People have read the last chapter but only one has reviewed!!! Please review so I know how this story is doing.


	15. Story time

My time on the Enterprise

Story time

Chapter three of the pirate series.

He ended the kiss moments later. Natalie looked up at him.

"Think about it at least." Dylan said. Natalie nodded and he walked out of the room, still escorted by a guard.

Natalie called James to her room, to explain things. James walked into the room and stopped dead when he saw her. His eyes traveled up and down her slowly. She smirked to herself.

"Wow." Was all he could get out.

"I called you here to tell you everything about my brother, Dylan and my time as a pirate." Natalie said. James crossed his arms over his chest.

"So start." He said. Natalie took off her jacket and James gulped at seeing the tank top she was wearing. She sat down on the couch in her room. James still stood but faced her. She sighed.

She told him of her brother running away and joining the pirates then swiftly becoming a captain. When she was eighteen she joined his crew and stayed there until she was twenty one, when her mother died. She decided that she wasn't cut out for the pirates and told her brother that she was joining Starfleet. She was never going to turn him in or tell the Federation where Tortuga was. Nate let her go with that promise. Dylan was furious that she left the pirates for Starfleet but decided to respect her wishes. They had dated for a year and a half before he asked her to marry him. Natalie was in love with him and said yes. But before her mother died and she enlisted in Starfleet she realized that she didn't want to marry him. She still loved him but she wasn't ready for marriage.

James was silent the entire time. She stood and came up to him. "James I'm sorry I never told you about my brother and the pirates." Natalie said. "I never thought that this would happen."

"So, I never would have found out about your past or your brother if they hadn't attacked us." James said angrily.

"I didn't think that you'd believe me actually." Natalie told him. "I just thought it was better to never tell you."

"Natalie, I love you, we are dating or we were before things happened." James said. "Didn't I deserve to know about you?"

Natalie sighed. "James I just, I…. Nate hadn't contacted me since I was stationed on the Starbase." She said. "I thought that he was just going to leave me alone and not claim me anymore. I was the enemy now."

James walked closer to her. "Is there anything else you are keeping secret?" He asked.

Natalie shook her head. "No, James, I promise." She said.

He looked her in the eyes. "Now, this Dylan guy can he be trusted?" He asked.

Natalie chuckled. "He's a pirate, what do you think?" She asked.

"So no, I keep the guard posted on him then." He said. Natalie nodded in agreement.

"I was going to do that anyway, Dylan is just here for show to the other pirates." She said. "He will be under guard twenty four/seven. I would never put the safety of the ship or the crew in danger by letting a pirate running around loose."

James nodded. "That's good, I was starting to wonder if you were a pirate or a Starfleet officer." He commented, chuckling. He stopped when he noticed her expression.

"Dylan said that he would like me to join the pirates and him when this was over." Natalie said.

"And did you tell him no way in hell?" James asked.

"I agreed to think about it." Natalie said. James grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close enough that there was maybe half an inch between them.

"But what about us, I mean I know we are having a rough patch right now, but we can work this out slowly." He said

Natalie looked away from him but he grabbed her chin with his free hand and made her look at him. "James, maybe it'll be better this way." She said. "You cheated and I kept stuff from you. Maybe after this is all over and the ship is fixed I should join the pirates and we go our separate ways. You'll be alright, you'll find someone else." She sounded so sure but he saw the tear going down her cheek that betrayed her.

"Natalie we can just start over, clean slate." He said. "We both made mistakes but we can get through this. Please just give us a chance before you decide to go with your brother and Dylan."

He then kissed her. As she kissed him back she couldn't help but compare the two kisses. Dylan was a good kisser and his kisses made her toes tingle. But James when he kissed her, she felt it from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. It made her weak in the knees and her heart beat a mile a minute. James pulled back and smiled at her.

"I'll think about it James." She told him. "I promise."

He let her go slowly then left the room. Natalie walked over and sat back down, wishing that none of this even happened.

Chapter three!! This story is just almost writing itself!!! Read and review.


	16. Tortuga

My time on the Enterprise

Tortuga

Chapter four in the pirate series.

They finally reached Tortuga. Dylan smirked at her as she walked up to him. "Ready?" He asked.

"Not yet." She said. James then come up to them wearing black pants and a loose white shirt.

"He's coming with us." She told him. Dylan grew angry and grabbed Natalie by the upper arm and pulled her towards him.

"That wasn't part of the plan." He said.

"Dylan, it'll be fine." Natalie assured him. "He is captain of this vessel and it's his right to come with us."

Dylan let her go and walked over to James. "If you blow this somehow and it gets us locked up or killed, I'm blaming you." He said.

"I can handle this; I'm more worried about you blowing this." James told him coolly. The three of them beamed down and met up with Nate. He glanced in the direction of James but didn't say anything.

"Now even with the damage minimal we need to acquire some parts to fix the engines and the phasers." Nate began. "The shields and torpedoes we can fix with what we have on hand."

They walked through the streets of Tortuga. James looked around warily; it reminded him of an old time pirate movie the way the people acted around here. Natalie knew what the streets of Tortuga were like and she moved closer to James subconsciously. They all had phasers. Nate led them to a little shop on the seediest street James thought they could find. There was just one person inside, standing behind a counter. Nate walked up to her.

"Hello, Gwen." He said with a smiled. She looked up at them and smiled.

"Nate, Dylan, I haven't seen you for awhile." She said. She then noticed Natalie and James. "Natalie! I haven't seen you in ages." Gwen came from around the counter and hugged Natalie tightly.

"How are you Gwen?" Natalie asked.

"Good." She replied. Gwen then looked at James.

She walked closer to him. "And who are you?" She asked.

"James." He replied.

She smiled at him then turned back to Nate. "What can I do for you?" She asked.

He handed her a list on a Padd. Gwen glanced it over and looked up. "You have captured a Federation ship?" She asked.

"Yes, but it needs some repairs." Natalie replied.

"I expect payment upfront." Gwen said. Natalie pulled a bag from her jacket pocket. It contained all the money she had left from her father, who was a rich dilithium mine owner. She threw it at Gwen.

"$100,000." Natalie said. James' jaw dropped. Gwen smirked.

"Now we're talking." She commented.

She then looked at James. "But it's not enough." She added.

"I want him as part of the payment." Gwen then stated. Natalie shook her head.

"No way in hell Gwen." She said. Gwen walked closer to her.

"Why, he means something to you?" She asked.

Instantly two pairs of eyes were on her. James looked at her; he wanted to see what she was going to say next. To see if he actually meant something to her. Dylan looked at her hoping that she was going to say in front of everyone that she didn't want him and wanted Dylan.

Natalie glanced at both men then back at Gwen. "Well?" Gwen asked.

Author's note. What will she say? Sorry for taking so long. I needed to think on what why this story was going. I was going to go one way and say that it was going to be stupid. So I had to think of a new story arc and finally it came to me. So see if you like it, read and review.


	17. Decisions Decisions

My time on the Enterprise

Decisions Decisions.

Natalie bit her lip. "You can't have him as a part of the payment." She said.

"Why?" Gwen asked.

Natalie knew that when Gwen wanted someone she wouldn't give up easily.

"Just let her have him as payment and get this over with." Dylan said.

"You can't sell me for payment, can you?" James asked.

Natalie sighed; she knew of one other weakness that Gwen had, jewelry. She pulled off the necklace she was wearing. It was an intricate heart with diamonds on it. Dylan gave it to her when she said she would marry him. Dylan would be angry that she was going to give it up, but she couldn't let James be sold off for the parts. She would have to explain to Starfleet command that she sold off the captain of their flag ship.

"Here." She said and handed her the necklace. Gwen looked it over, she wanted this piece since she first saw it on the girl years ago.

"I gave that to you as an engagement present." Dylan said. Natalie looked at him.

"Yeah, I know." She said.

He walked closer to her. "You said that you'd never get rid of it." He stated with a hiss. She looked at him.

"Well, it has no emotional value to me anymore." She said and looked back at Gwen. Natalie didn't notice Dylan look at James with pure venom. James looked back at him with a smirk.

"Do we have a deal, Gwen?" Natalie asked. Gwen took one last look at James.

"Deal." She agreed. They then shook on it.

"Give me three days and I'll have your parts." She told them. As they were leaving the shop, James came up beside Natalie.

"Thanks for not letting me get sold off to that woman." He told her.

Natalie chuckled. "Well, the main reason I did it was so I didn't have to make a report about why you weren't on the ship." She teased. James frowned at her.

He then motioned to Dylan, who was walking in front of them. "Why did you give her something he gave you as a present?" James asked. "I thought you were considering going with him when this was all over."

She smiled at him. "Well, I thought about it and decided that the pirate chapter in my life is over." She said. "I am a Starfleet officer, and my life is now on the Enterprise."

James put his arm around her waist as they walked. "So does that mean…" He started but she stopped him as they reached the clearing they had beamed down at. Natalie then kissed him, with Dylan watching angrily.

As Dylan stood there seething at the events that had just transpired, them kissing put the final nail in the coffin. When he saw her wearing that necklace and hoped that she still cared for him, but she so easily gave it up to stop the sale of the captain he knew that she wasn't his anymore. Now seeing them kiss just made him even angrier. He didn't care anymore, as soon as he saw the two separate he jumped on James to begin the fight.


	18. Chapter 18 The fight

The Fight

Disclaimer note: I do not own Star Trek.

James was surprised when Dylan jumped on him, but he quickly fought back. Natalie went to try and stop it but Nate stopped her.

"Let me go, I have to stop this stupid fight." She said.

"Natalie, they're fighting over you, don't you realize that?" Nate asked.

"Do you even really care about her, Kirk?" Dylan asked as he hit him across the jaw.

"Yes, I love her." James replied as he caught Dylan's fist and then kicked him in the knee causing Dylan to kneel.

Dylan chuckled. "You do huh?" He asked. "So why was she seriously considering coming with me?"

Natalie wrenched herself away from Nate and ran in-between them.

"Stop it right now." She ordered.

"No, choose him or me, right now, right here." Dylan said.

"I thought she had already answered that." James said.

"What by kissing you?" Dylan asked. "Maybe she was just teasing you with it."

Both of them looked at Natalie. She almost rolled her eyes at them.

"Fine, I love James." Natalie said. "Dylan you are a good man, at least you were when we were eighteen." She crossed her arms. "Do want to hear anything else?"

He walked closer to her and brushed her cheek. "Do you feel anything for me?" He asked.

"No, not anymore." She replied.

"Leave Starfleet, come back with me." Dylan pleaded.

"No, do you know what my life was like in with the pirates?" Natalie asked.

"I thought you enjoyed being a pirate?" Nate said from behind them.

Natalie sighed. "I pretended but I hated every minute." She said. "I only said that I would think about joining again just so you wouldn't go off on a rampage before the Enterprise got fixed. I would never leave Starfleet. I can see the stars, the only thing on the Resolute I did was be the engineer in the depths of the ship with no windows." She scoffed.

"I was hardly ever let out of there, Dylan. And all you cared was that you were with the Captain's sister. You never cared for me. I was a stupid idiot teenager and fell for it." Dylan grew angry and hit her across the face. Natalie fell to the ground and spat out the blood in her mouth on the ground.

James went over to check Natalie. She pushed herself up to sit on the ground. James carefully checked her face. Natalie took his hand and stopped him.

"I'm fine, don't worry." She said. James nodded and helped her up. They both looked at Dylan.

"Now, if you don't want to deal with me and James being together then you can go back to your ship." Natalie added.

Dylan said nothing and everyone turned to walk the last few feet to beam up to the Enterprise. Unknown to them Dylan had a ship of his own. He silently contacted it and was about to do something about this. Maybe he can make her his again. He came up behind Nate and knocked him out with a hypo spray. He then hit Natalie and James with his phaser to stun them. After all three were successfully knocked out he beamed Natalie, James and himself to his own ship and then the ship took off in warp.

Author's note: Ok, here is the first true update. Tell me if it's good and what you want Dylan to try to get Natalie back on his side. I hopefully will try and update this a little more, I kinda have got over the writer's block but I still need ideas. So please read and review.


End file.
